Saturday, May 19, 2012

State Del. Pat McDonough, who stirred controversy this week when he said "roving mobs of black youth" terrorize Baltimore, shrugged off criticism Friday that he is using shock tactics to raise his political profile.

McDonough, a Republican who represents Baltimore and Harford counties, refused to apologize for his comments. He has called for Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, to assign the Maryland State Police to fight the "consistent and dangerous attacks" in the city. McDonough has hosted a conservative talk show on WCBM for 20 years.

McDonough said public debate should not "demonize the messenger" but instead focus on MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake's efforts to curb violence in the city.

"I don't do this for political approval," McDonough said. "Somebody's got to speak up. I am the speaker-upper. ... Stephanie is the one who should be grilled."

A 19-year-old student from Baltimore Polytechnic High School told police he was beaten by two separate groups of juveniles from a rival school in downtown Baltimore on Thursday afternoon, an attack that comes amid a pitched debate over downtown safety....

The Sun reported last week that police dispatch tapes revealed a broader disturbance downtown onSt. Patrick's Daythan police had let on, and some questioned whether police had been forthcoming initially about the scope of the incident. The tapes showed police struggled to contain large groups of young people moving throughout the downtown area.

Also that night, a Virginia man was beaten and stripped of his clothing near the downtown courthouse, an attack that was caught on tape and garnered national attention.

The racial elements of that crime fed much of the outrage - the victim was white, and the attackers were all black. In Thursday's reported assault, Guglielmi said the 19-year-old victim was white and the attackers were all juvenile black males.

Sounds like McDonough had it about right. City leaders and the local press don't want to have to admit that they've got a problem in that city with lawless youth gangs, but to savage the guy that points that out isn't doing anything to fix the problem - it's just making it worse. Of course, that's how liberals usually handle things - they make them worse.